Case Number 21777

Sisters Of War

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All Rise...

Judge David Johnson will have nun of that.

The Charge

A tale of strength, survival and forgiveness.

Opening Statement

During the heat of the War in the Pacific a group of Australian nuns find
themselves left on their own to face Japanese occupation.

Facts of the Case

As the Japanese empire island-hops, a station staffed by nuns and nurses is
left to their own devices when the Australian forces bug out. With no one to
defend them, the nurses are forced to surrender to the Japanese and manage to
eke out an accord with their captors, where they're allowed to care for their
wounded while maintaining a tenuous peace with the Empire.

Through this tense situation, Army nurse Lorna Whyte (Sarah Snook) and
Sister Berenice Twohill (Claire van der Boom) form a strong
friendship—which will be tested in a big way when their relatively
hospitable situation takes a terrible turn.

The Evidence

Interesting movie. Sisters of War is based on a true story, and it's a
story worth telling. I hadn't the faintest idea about what Australian nurses and
nuns were up to during World War II, so a little history lesson is always
appreciated. Mix that with the fact that this is a genuinely interesting human
interest story—told well and executed nicely—and you've got yourself
a modest gem.

A TV movie originally, Sisters of War sports a top-line production
design; I didn't realize it was a TV movie until looking it up on IMDb. Most of
the film takes place on location and there are a handful of cinematic moments,
including an intense scene featuring a bombing run. Either the filmmakers are
skilled at masking a low budget or there was a nice chunk of change to work
with.

Which would of course mean bupkus if the story was wobbly. Not the case. The
narrative engine that drives the film is the friendship between Twohill and
Whyte. It's a nuanced relationship, which starts rocky then solidifies into a
sisterhood in the face of huge adversity. Snook and van der Boom are quite good
in the leading roles and play characters divergent enough so that it offers a
substantial emotional payload when they forge their bond. Even better: the
follow-up with the real Lorna Whyte and Berenice Twohill at the end of the film.
There's a tear-jerker for even the studliest among us.

A quick note about the film's intensity. It may be a made-for-TV film but
there are some disturbing sequences, including POW executions, the
aforementioned bombing run (many nuns get mowed down) and some torture footage.
It's nothing to upset the stomach of any battle-hardened war movie viewer, but
it's several notches grislier than your standard issue TV movie.